One of the property industry’s best-known tech figures has rejoined the fray after being named as the next CEO of Canopy & The Lettings Hub.

Gary Barker, who first made his name leading Reapit, is after a few months off heading up Canopy & The Lettings Hub with a remit to ‘supercharge’ innovation, customer care and growth.

Barker has enjoyed a stellar career since leaving Reapit including senior roles at Connells, nurtur group and tmgroup as well as a brief stint at The Letting Hub.

He has also been a non-executive director at HMO platform COHO and worked for a proptech in South Africa during 2022 and 2023.

Barker joins a business with plenty of money and momentum. Canopy has grown from six-person team to more than 190 employees, serving 2,600 letting agencies and signing up some 50,000 new renters onto its platform every month.

This growth has to a certain extent flowed from its acquisition of The Lettings Hub and is part of its ambition to become a ‘household name’.

Having led the business over this growth period, boss Chris Hutchinson will move to the role of Chief Commercial Officer, continuing as a Board member and focusing on business growth, partnerships, and potential further acquisitions.

“Canopy has already established itself as a market leader with huge momentum.

“The opportunity to build on that success, expand its impact across the UK, and unlock future opportunities — including international growth — is incredibly exciting.

“I’m delighted to join the team at such a pivotal moment and to help to deliver more innovation to the industry to support our customers and partners.

“The lettings landscape is evolving fast, and technology must keep pace. My focus will be on delivering solutions that genuinely make life easier for agents and customers – while creating real commercial advantage for our partners.

Rental cycle

Hutchinson says: “Canopy was founded with a clear mission: to remove friction from the rental cycle and make life easier for renters, agents, and landlords.

“We’ve made incredible progress, but our ambition has only grown. Gary’s track record at Reapit, where he led innovation and scaled the business, makes him the perfect leader to take Canopy forward. I’m thrilled to continue driving growth in my new role while supporting Gary and the Board.”

Mark Witherspoon, Chairman of Canopy, says: “Gary’s leadership and vision are exactly what we need at this stage of our growth. His deep understanding of the industry, combined with his ability to turn big ideas into practical, impactful solutions, will help us set new standards for the market while we are thrilled to enable Chris to continue to grow the scale of Canopy across new verticals and markets.”